God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:9, NASB)
If you were unable to watch the final of this year’s USGA Women’s Amateur Championship a couple of weeks ago, you missed great golf drama on one of golf’s highest stages. All square after 34 holes on a humid Mississippi summer afternoon, Gabriela Ruffels birdied the last two holes to win 1-up over Albane Valenzuela and become the 2019 champion.
In addition to the sheer drama of watching two young competitors battling it out on a national stage, what I found most interesting was Valenzuela’s pre-shot routine. She would step up to the ball and lightly twist her body to the left, pushing her left shoulder back and then return. In an interview with announcer Juli Inkster, Valenzuela said she did this to remind herself to move her shoulder out of the way as she came through with her swing; the move triggers a swing thought. Apparently it is working. Valenzuela has made it to the US Amateur final two out of the last three years and is the fifth-ranked amateur in the world.
Swing thoughts are the things we tell ourselves before we play a shot and they can make a huge difference in our play. Hopefully for the good, I mean. My friend Paul once told me, “I tell myself the same thing before each shot to hopefully diminish the possibility I am going to shank the ball.” LOL!
What is my spiritual swing thought to start each day, and how do I take God with me over the course of the day?More commonly, we remind ourselves to “let the club do the work” or “keep your left arm straight” or “maintain your body posture,” etc. Most golfers try to narrow the list of thoughts down to just one, but we even the best players have different swing thoughts for different situations. They might have one for our driver and another for our irons and still another for when we are putting. You might, too. That’s fine. You just don’t want to fall into the quirky behavior that crippled Sergio Garcia in the early 2000s, when he kept gripping and regripping the club in an attempt to find a freeing thought. It was painful to watch.
If we approach golf this seriously, repeating our swing thoughts every time we play, I wonder: What is my spiritual swing thought to start each day, and how do I take God with me over the course of the day? Let me offer you an idea.
As Joshua was taking over the leadership of the entire nation of Israel to guide them into the promised land, God said this to him: “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8, NIV). In Psalm 1, we read this of a godly person: “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, and in whatever he does, he prospers.”
Do you understand what is going on here? God gives his words to his people ahead of their daily needs. Need peace today? Take Philippians 4:6-7 with you. Need courage to face the day? Take Isaiah 41:10 along. Need to rest in his arms? Matthew 11:28-30. If we take the Lord’s “swing thoughts” with us, we will greatly increase the odds we are going to perform well. We might even diminish our shanks throughout the day!
Our number one calling is to fellowship with Christ. Take him with you today by letting his words lead the way.
—
Bob Kuecker
August 26, 2019
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.